


Two For Twenty

by YourCoolBroKat



Category: Marble Hornets
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-05-13
Packaged: 2018-06-08 05:37:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6841141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourCoolBroKat/pseuds/YourCoolBroKat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim decides that he and Jay can't live off of cheap junk food forever, which means they're going to have to do something unprecedented-- go out to eat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Two For Twenty

       “Jay. We can’t live off of frozen foods and sandwiches forever. God knows that neither of us can actually _cook,_ either. I told you—we have the extra money. Let’s just go to a restaurant and have some _decent food_ for once, okay?” Tim sighed loudly and ran his hands through his hair, frustrated. Jay attempted to cross his arms and shrug at the same time in defiance, but it didn’t really work out. He shoved his hands in his pockets instead, and grunted. “Yeah, but—well—what if we need the money?” Tim raised his eyebrows. “For what? _More_ cheap food that a rat couldn’t live off of?” Jay shrugged again. “I dunno, pills maybe, since you need _those_ so bad, or—” “We also need food,” Tim interrupted. “I’m not arguing about this. Come on.” He grabbed his car keys and pointedly headed towards the door. Jay huffed, but followed, mumbling under his breath.

      “I still think we could spending our money on something more useful,” Jay protested, even as they were heading into the doors of the restaurant. Tim had chosen the nearest one—an Applebee’s, because it was a chain restaurant, and thus not too expensive, but not fast food either. Tim just rolled his eyes. The restaurant had low lighting, and few patrons, even at this hour. Jay looked at the sign in front of them. _“Please wait here”_ it read. “Kinda… fancy,” Jay mumbled, shuffling a bit closer to Tim. He wasn’t used to regular stuff like this anymore. The thought was somewhat jarring, but in a rather disassociated way. Tim glanced at Jay, but didn’t say anything. He walked up to the podium, with Jay awkwardly at his side.

      “Hi, welcome to Applebee’s,” a waitress said breathily as she quickly flitted behind the podium. She had a broad smile that wasn’t entirely fake. “Hi, table for _two,_ please,” Tim said. The waitress looked at Tim, and then at Jay, and then at the both of them before smiling just a bit wider (though how that was possible neither Tim nor Jay knew). Jay could only imagine how they looked to her; a dark haired, rough-looking man and a scrawny man with a constant look of confusion on his face, both looking like they hadn’t slept in weeks. They hadn’t, but still. It also didn’t help that Jay carried a camera in the manner one might associate with a prosthetic limb. “Right this way, please,” the waitress said cheerily. Jay hadn’t even noticed that he was practically leaning on Tim until he began to move forward and Jay stumbled a bit. Oops. “Let’s give you two gentlemen a nice spot away from all the noise, hmm?” She said as they walked, and Jay and Tim sat awkwardly down at the booth she had led them to. “Thanks,” and “Thank you” came respectively from the two of them.

       The menus had already been placed on the table, and the waitress walked away. “Okay then,” Tim muttered. “Didn’t even introduce herself.” “Hmm,” Jay grunted in response, too busy reading through the menu to really care about how polite the waitress had been. Even if she had been _nice._ “Drinks come first, right?” Jay asked. “I mean, you order the drink, and then—” He shut up when he saw the exasperated yet amused look Tim was shooting him from across their booth. He coughed softly; not the usual hacking brought on by an attack of any sort, but by regular human embarrassment. “Right,” he said. As strange as it was to think it, it was nice to cough without worrying. Tim smiled a bit at how embarrassed Jay clearly was, but he tried to hide it. He looked over his own menu.

       “There doesn’t seem to be anything _too_ cheap on here,” Tim mused, flipping through the pages, “Except for appetizers and honestly the junk food we get is just as good as that.” Jay frowned at the kid’s menu on the back. Two unshaven unkempt men wouldn’t pass for kids, so that was a no-go. He flipped the menu back over to the front. Jay stared blankly at it before registering what the bold letters said, and blinked slowly. _Okay,_ he admitted silently, _maybe we_ do _need real food._ “Uh, what about this?” Jay asked, holding up the menu for Tim to see and pointing at it. “It says ‘two for twenty’—that’s just ten dollars each, right?” Tim rolled his eyes. “Good work with the math there, Jay. And yeah, you’re right, that’d probably be the cheapest.” He paused. “I think it’s for couples, though.”

       “Uh—oh,” Jay said, fidgeting. “—I mean I still think we should get it, I just think it’s like, a date thing,” Tim said quickly, and the two of them sat for a moment taking in the “date thing”. “Well, it is cheaper, and good food, so,” Jay tried to make things less awkward. Not like a “date thing” would matter. Unless they were on a date. Which they weren’t. Clearly. The waitress came by again. “Sorry about that,” she said, still beaming, although it was questionable how much she _really_ loved her job. “My name is Alicia and I’ll be your waitress for tonight! Would you like to order anything to drink?” She waited patiently for their responses, pen in hand hovering just above her notepad. Tim leaned forward a bit. “I think I’d just like some w—” “WAIT,” Jay blurted, alarmed, “Are drinks separate from the two-for-twenty deal?” Tim glanced at Jay, but then half-shrugged and sat back against the seat until the waitress—Alicia—could reply.

       Alicia blinked. “No, you have to pay separately.” Jay looked a little disappointed, defeated even perhaps, and Tim looked at him helplessly. “Well, it’s still cheaper,” he said truthfully. He turned to the waitress again. “I’d like a water,” he said, actually able to complete his sentence this time. “I’d like a lemonade,” Jay mumbled, and Alicia nodded and quickly scribbled it down. “I’ll get right back to you boys,” she beamed, and left again. “The restaurant’s actually pretty empty so I’m sure it won’t be long,” Jay said to Tim, trying to make conversation. “Maybe,” Tim replied absently. “We should, uh… probably look at our options for the two-for-twenty thing since we have to agree on it.” Tim shuffled forward in his seat. “Yeah,” he cleared his throat, “Yep. Let’s see—” The two of them started looking over their menus quietly. Alicia came back with their water and lemonade and Tim politely told her they hadn’t decided on what to order yet. She smiled and said she’d come back in a few to see.

      “I could get a, uh… grilled chicken taco?” Jay suggested. “No.” Tim didn’t even look up from his menu. “I dunno, Tim, it looks pretty good—” “We’re here for _healthy_ food, Jay,” Tim interrupted. Jay huffed. “Besides—aren’t you looking? Those are the _appetizers.”_ “Oh.” Tim sighed. “Well, I guess, we have to decide on an appetizer anyways. And I don’t know about you but even if it’s healthy I _really_ don’t want a salad for that.” Jay nodded. “We could get boneless wings, or mozzarella sticks…” Jay thought about it for a moment. “Mozzarella sticks would reheat better, wouldn’t stink up a hotel.” Tim shuffled awkwardly. “Alright.” After a bit of mulling over the options and banter that went remarkably like the banter before, Tim decided on the riblets and Jay decided on something called the three-cheese chicken cavatappi just before the waitress showed up. “I’d like the three cheese chicken ca—cavatapapi please,” Jay offered, and Tim snickered at him. Alicia flashed him a look of sympathy and said “Cavatappi. Got it.” Jay flushed red and Tim shot him a look. The waitress headed off.

       “And now we wait,” Tim said, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. “And now we wait,” Jay echoed. After a long few seconds of silence, Jay fidgeted. “I think we’re supposed to make conversation here, in a normal social setting,” he said. “Alright, well, I don’t really have anything to talk about though other than what we’ve been talking about since you dragged me into this mess—” Jay fidgeted guiltily. “—and I think in “normal social settings” this would be considered a date.” Jay fidgeted again, but this time, it was because he was flustered. There was the “date thing” again. Or rather, the “not date thing”. “Right,” Jay replied awkwardly. “I guess we could talk about… I don’t know, what do people talk about? The weather?” Tim snorted softly. “I think that’s mostly old people." Oh. Right. Old people topics. But speaking of—surely _Tim_ had noticed the recurring “not date thing” thing that had been happening, too? Unless Jay was overthinking things. And, granted, it was certainly something he was prone to. How did conversations work again?

       A minute of silence, lost in their thoughts, and Tim decided to try and break it. “So—how about that weather we’re having?” Jay started snickering and Tim cracked a grin. “Well, you know, it’s been fairly nice out lately,” Jay said in a lilted voice, playing along. “Could use a few less coughstorms though.” Tim raised his eyebrows. “Cloudy with a chance of paranoia, and some light stalking expected as the week goes on.” They both laughed a little nervously. The restaurant setting was a bit of a weird juxtaposition to their usual setting and life in general, but overall, it was… nice, Jay thought. Nice to just sit there with Tim. And even nicer to laugh about something, and see Tim laugh. And, Jay reminded himself, just because they were in a restaurant together ordering a couple’s meal did not make it a date.

       Tim looked up as the waitress returned with their food. “Here you are,” She said, setting down a plate of mozzarella sticks. “Your food will be done shortly, but I’ll give you time to finish these first.” She grinned. “You don’t have to,” Tim said, “We’re planning on saving these for later.” He looked at Jay, who was in the process of shoving a mozzarella stick into his mouth. “—Most of these. Right, Jay?”Jay froze guiltily and nodded, mozzarella-grease covered hand poised in midair. Tim huffed in amusement. “I’ll be right back with your food,” the waitress stated. “I only wanted to have one,” Jay mumbled defensively, but the skeptical look Tim was still giving him proved he knew otherwise. Tim sighed and shook his head. “Well, I guess we were gonna eat it either way,” he relinquished, and Jay smiled awkwardly at him.

       There was something weird about this. Jay glanced at his camera, sitting on the table and not glued to his hand for once. He didn’t _have_ to upload this unless that _thing_ showed up—god forbid—and he certainly wasn’t obligated to put personal or private moments between him and Tim up for just anyone to see. Tim may have been thinking similar thoughts as they sat patiently and waited. Alicia the waitress was soon back, carrying two large, steaming plates of food. “Riblets and a three cheese chicken cavatappi for y—” Everyone stopped mid sentence as the room suddenly turned dark.

       Jay grabbed his camera. Tim grabbed Jay’s wrist. The waitress stood frozen in place. After a second of standing and having grabbed what they needed, the long stretch of time without dying of coughing and paranoia and haziness made them both realize it wasn’t that _thing’s_ doing. “I guess the power went out,” Alicia stated finally. Jay let go of the camera (but kept his hand on it.) Tim loosened his grip on Jay. Jay’s fingers started to tingle. “Yeah,” Tim managed to reply. Their eyes had begun to adjust, at least a little, and the loud murmur of other restaurant patrons could be heard. Their waitress cautiously set the plates on the table. “I’ll… go get some candles,” she offered. “Thanks,” Jay said. He suddenly became very, very aware of Tim’s hand still on his wrist. He flushed. When Jay was sure the overeager waitress was out of earshot, he decided to let Tim know. “You don’t have to _hold my hand,_ ” he muttered, grateful that Tim couldn’t see the change in color on his face. “Sorry,” Tim mumbled awkwardly, pulling his hand away and resting it on the table.

       It was only after Tim pulled his hand away that Jay realized he really, really wanted the security of a friend in the dark. He instantly regretted it. He could barely even _see_ Tim. And even though they were in a restaurant, that _thing_ didn’t seem to care _too_ much where it attacked them, and—a small kick to the shin interrupted Jay’s thoughts. Tim was still there. And apparently, had realized that Jay needed the security—or he needed it himself. But it was good to know that he was there. Yeah. Even in the dark, Jay turned his face away from Tim with his chin on his hand, trying not to let Tim see the small doofy smile on his face. After minutes of nervous anticipation, a near-blinding flashlight beam greeted them, along with the sight of a lighter, candles, and a semi-familiar face. The waitress smiled at the two men, although now it was definitely less genuine. “Sorry about that,” she said, sighing, and placing and lighting some candles on the table. “You two can enjoy _seeing_ your meal now. Hopefully this didn’t ruin your date.” She quickly headed off to another table, leaving Jay and Tim staring at each other.

       “Date?” Jay asked Tim. “ _Date?”_ Tim asked Jay. Their now viewable food was left wholly untouched as the two men attempted to process what they had heard. No, it _wasn’t_ a date… was it? And if it was, was that… a _bad_ thing? Tim had picked up a riblet and was attempting to eat away the answer. With nothing else to say on the matter, Jay decided to eat, too. They ate their food in complete silence. After about twenty minutes, Jay felt _stuffed._ He hated to admit it, but that was more food than he had eaten in a long, long time. Tim looked as if he felt the same way. They had silently received their bill and Tim had set the money out for it, as well as a large tip. He put both his hands on the table and shifted. “Well, that was good. Really good. I guess it’s time to find somebody and ask for a doggy bag or something.” Tim started to get up. “W—wait. Tim.”

       Tim gave Jay a strange look and sat back down, though still on the edge of his seat. “Yeah?” _Why,_ why _can’t I think before I do these things?_ Jay scolded himself, but it was too late to back down now. “… _Could_ it be a date?” He asked nervously. Tim was cute. And great. And _gosh,_ everything about him—he made Jay feel safe—“I’ll be right back,” was all Tim said, and went to navigate his way to the bar or the podium or _wherever_ for a container. Oh. “I ruined it,” Jay whispered to himself. It had been so nice—but then again, it wasn’t really a nice date if it wasn’t actually a date. He glanced at the camera, still on the table recording. Yeah, he _definitely_ wasn’t gonna upload _this._ Jay heaved a heavy sigh.

       “Hey,” a voice alerted him, and Tim immediately began stuffing their food into as few containers as possible. Jay looked at him. “It could be,” Tim managed to say after a moment, and avoided Jay’s gaze as the tips of his ears turned red. Jay held back a grin. The restaurant was still dark, but thankfully management had managed to quickly set up enough temporary bits of lighting so that the patrons could at least _exit_ the building. “Careful navigating through here,” Tim said as they stood up, and Jay took the opportunity and snatched Tim’s hand. He looked surprised, but he didn’t say anything. Tim did however raise an eyebrow. “I thought you didn’t need me to hold your hand,” he teased. “It’s safer this way.” The two began looking for the exit. “And I _wanted_ to,” he mumbled in retribution. Jay could just barely see the smirk from his position following Tim. No matter. Anywhere with Tim was good enough.

       When they got into the light of the entryway doors, Jay and Tim reluctantly and awkwardly let go. _Somebody_ had to open the door at least, and anyways, it _was_ Alabama. You could never be too careful. “You know,” Tim said as they walked across the parking lot, “The food was good, but that’s the _worst_ date I’ve ever been on.” Jay gave a little huff of laughter. “Definitely.” But it _was_ a date. Smiling to themselves, well fed and as unstressed as they’d been in a long time, they headed for their car and more hotels again. More running around looking for people that ought to exist but didn’t and things that ought not to exist but did. Jay reached for Tim’s hand, and Tim took it in his.

 

 


End file.
